E/CN.4/2003/90/Add.2 page 28 a multicultural and democratic society. The State should fulfil the commitment assumed in the Indigenous Agreement to make mass media available without restrictions for indigenous communities and projects. Academic community 94. The Special Rapporteur recommends that universities and research institutions should make greater efforts to study the human rights situation of the indigenous peoples in all their aspects, in order to propose intelligent solutions to their problems, as well as development strategies and social and cultural policies appropriate to their needs. He also recommends that institutional policies should be developed to include the largest possible number of indigenous researchers and professionals in these projects and to foster the training of indigenous professionals in human rights. Notes 1 Special thanks for André Bessieres of MINUGUA and Fredy Ochaeta of OACDH. 2 Estimates of the size of the indigenous population vary, as there are no precise data. Interviewed by the Special Rapporteur, the country’s Vice-President confirmed that the figure used officially is around 60 per cent. 3 The Mayas are in turn divided into 21 linguistic groups, while the Garífuna are basically of African descent. The rest of the Guatemalan nation, from the ethnic standpoint, is composed of the Ladinos or mestizos and the population of European origin, or “Whites”. There are no rigid boundaries between these categories. 4 Departments of San Marcos, Totonicapán, Huehuetenango, Quiché, Alta and Baja Verapaz, Sololá, Jalapa, Jutiapa and Quetzaltenango. 5 MINUGUA, The indigenous peoples of Guatemala: Overcoming discrimination in the framework of the Peace Agreements, Verification report, United Nations, September 2001. 6 Composed of the departments of Totonicapán, Quetzaltenango, Suchitepéquez, Retalhuleu, San Marcos and Sololá. 7 Huehuetenango and Quiché. 8 Congress has adopted the Development Councils Act (decree No. 11-2002), the Municipal Code (decree No. 12-2002), the reform of the Penal Code to include the offence of discrimination (decree No. 57-2002) and the Non-discrimination (Dissemination) Act (decree No. 81-2002). The first two provide for greater participation by the indigenous peoples and grant recognition to their political institutions, while the latter are aimed at countering discrimination. 9 MINUGUA, op. cit., para. 9.